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Deep down, I knew I was working my life away; I just didn't want to admit it.

From early in the morning, until late at night, I worked.
I'd bring work home and fall asleep amidst the paperwork.
I gave up weekends, vacations, lunches and breaks,
but there was work to be done and I had to do my best. Always.
If there was no one else to do a job, I pulled in the slack.

After nearly a decade of this, burnout wasn't a possibility, it was the norm.
I was exhausted, and yet I refused to let anything slow me down.
It was a non-profit and I cared. Too much.

My Mother tried to tell me, but I wouldn't listen.
My husband tried to tell me, but I had excuses.
My friends (what few I had left) tried to tell me, but I was sure I knew best.

I was returning from a meeting one day and decided to pick up some Chinese takeout on the run.
I pulled my car over near a bluff overlooking the beach and began to hurriedly gobble my food so I could get back to the office.

That's when I read my fortune.
Only this cookie held more cookie logic than a revelation of cosmic destiny.
Or so I thought at the time.

"Do not rush through life. Pause and enjoy it."

"Yeah, right, blah, blah, blah. I have so many piles of work on my desk right now, Gandhi would grit his teeth and push through overtime."
(I was under a lot of stress at the time and when a person is stressed, the eyes, ears, and mind tend to close much quicker than the mouth.)

Nonetheless, I didn't throw it away.
Despite my cranky mood, I reached up and tucked it up into the bottom left-hand corner of my rearview mirror.

Eight years later, it's still there.

"Do not rush through life. Pause and enjoy it."

Each day I drove to work, I'd look in my mirror and those words were there.
Before long, they became my silent mantra.

"Do not rush through life. Pause and enjoy it."

Within a year, I left my job then took some time off for myself.
Within two, we sold our house, moved to the country and rediscovered a great deal of joy in our lives.

"Do not rush through life. Pause and enjoy it."

I know what you're thinking.
Can a fortune cookie really change your life?

My answer to that question is simple.
If your mind and heart are open,
absolutely anything can change your life.